


liar's dice

by kona (charliebones)



Category: Original Work
Genre: Biting, Blow Jobs, Boys Kissing, Cascade, First Time Blow Jobs, Gay, Gay Awakening, Gay Bar, Gay Panic, Humans, Jealousy, M/M, Magic, Mental Breakdown, Mild Voyeurism, One Night Stands, SCRYING, Tieflings, Tsunderes, bratty sub, scorpio 4 cancer
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-09
Updated: 2019-08-09
Packaged: 2020-08-13 19:13:52
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 12,952
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20179312
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/charliebones/pseuds/kona
Summary: luci istotallyflirting with him right? talmage really doesn't know what to do with this emotional "straight boy."talmage and luci are pretty competitive, luci gets bored, talmage suggests they go to a "fun" bar. because he'sfun, right??





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [emiOCs](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=emiOCs).

> this fic is a half-birthday present, half-attack I wrote for @emiOCs during our friend group's ARTFITE in 2019. talmage is emi's OC, and luci belongs to ashley.

“Aw, I lost again!” 

Dice clacked onto the table, soon followed by a worn leather mug which thudded gently down. A bright teal blue tiefling sat back in his chair, arms crossed in confusion, and looked up at his four other companions expectantly.

“Rocco, the idea is to  _ deceive  _ your opponent, you  _ do  _ know what that means, right?” 

The blue tiefling’s counterpart—a pink tiefling with indigo accents—lifted his eyebrows at him, unimpressed.

“I do! I’m not dumb, Talmage, it’s just really hard because every time it’s my turn to go, I just get all giggly and nervous instead,” protested Rocco.

“You certainly have the  _ worst  _ tell,” said the woman at the table, a dark and mysterious looking dragonborn. “Though you’re not much worse than Bishop who I think may actually be unable to tell a lie if his life depended on it.”

“I do not think that is a bad thing, Raja,” said Bishop, a six-and-a-half foot tall man with yellow blonde hair and two massive white wings folded behind his back.

“It is in this game,” replied Raja cooly. “And this game is going to teach you about how to deceive others in real life, which you two in particular need quite a bit of practice with if we’re going to keep running from the Vale.”

“I’m going to try harder this time!” The blue tiefling shot up in his chair, determined and holding his fists clenched at the ready.

“WELL, it has just been  _ so  _ fun taking your money, Rocco, but I’m going to go get drunk now,” said a dark haired young man sporting a scarlet red crop top; his tone was flat and deeply disinterested. He pushed back from the table and wandered towards the bar.

The pink tiefling eyed him as he departed momentarily before also standing up. “Yeah, I think I’m done, too. You guys have fun with Raja, I’m sure the game will be much easier for you with only one competent player!” He said this mock cheerfully with a little wave and brushed the white hair out of his face before turning to follow the dark haired boy.

The boy was already ordering what looked like two more drinks, and somehow he had already finished a drink before that, for there was an empty glass that he was sliding back underneath an arm of the man next to him, who was turned away and chatting up a beautiful young woman. Thankfully, Talmage noted, this went entirely unnoticed by the man and woman whom the dark haired boy had stolen from.  _ I suppose those nibble fingers of his are good for something _ , Talmage thought.

“Hey, order me another two, would you?” Talmage said casually, sliding up along the other side of the boy, not looking at him.

“Order your own drinks, Talmage,” huffed the boy who was intent on ignoring him.

Talmage frowned back at him. “What, it’s not  _ weird  _ for a male friend to order another guy some drinks, Luci, just calm down.”

Luci stiffened. “I wasn’t implying that! I just don’t want to be responsible for  _ your  _ tab.”

Talmage looked down at his nails on the bar and had a thought, the corners of his mouth turning up surreptitiously.

“Order my drinks, and let’s play a little game. First one to finish both their drinks wins; loser pays the whole tab,” Talmage suggested, his tail gently swaying at the thought of a little competition.

Luci’s brow furrowed. “That’s a little unfair, I’ve had more drinks than you already.”

“How’s that  _ my fault _ , Luci. Look—” Talmage suddenly grabbed one of the drinks that had come in for Luci out of his hand, tipped it back, and finished half the drink within a matter of seconds. He instantly made a face at the taste of the drink.

“Jesus, Luci, what kind of drink did you order?”

“Rum and soda,” Luci said quietly into his other drink, slightly embarrassed. 

“Did you order like the cheapest well rum possible?” Talmage regained his composure but was still making faces at the horrible taste of cheap alcohol on his tongue. He finished the rest of the drink anyway.

“Whatever!” Luci crossed his arms at Talmage. “What  _ special drink _ do you want me to order for you, Talmage?”

Talmage went quiet and realized what he was about to ask. “Sex on the Beach,” he said quietly, trying to pass it off as casual.

“Sorry...what was that,” asked Luci flatly.

“Sex on the Beach,” Talmage repeated, suddenly realizing the corner he’d backed himself into.

“I just can’t  _ quite  _ hear you...”

“Fuck  _ you _ , Luci—I’ll order my own,” Talmage hissed at him, leaning over the bar.

Satisfied with this exchange, Luci elbowed Talmage back down before turning back to the bar and placing the order himself. Talmage slapped at his arm noncommittally like he were swatting at a particularly stubborn fly. 

Running his finger along the glass of the empty drink, he waited impatiently for his drinks, not speaking to Luci. It wasn’t as though he hadn’t had his fair share of terrible bar drinks. He  _ was  _ cheap, after all. He had just assumed, wrongly, that Luci would have ordered something with  _ a little  _ taste to it. There wasn’t anything wrong with cheap alcohol,  _ but at least dress it up a little _ , he thought. Maybe he would have had better luck with Bishop, he mused to himself, but  _ that  _ was an avenue he wasn’t willing to go down right now. He was still furious with Bishop for all of the previous “compelling” incidents and hadn’t quite forgiven him yet.

When his drinks finally arrived, both bright pink with a soft foam along the top, Talmage took them hastily, and, remembering his game, begrudgingly gave one to Luci.

“Yeah, you sort of cheated,” Luci said, taking the drink from him and swirling it suspiciously. “What the hell kind of drink is this anyway?”

“You worried it’s going to turn you gay, huh?” Talmage teased, eyes half-lidded in an amused expression looking at him. “Some kinda homosexual magic potion?”

“You  _ really  _ don’t like yourself, do you, Talmage?” 

Talmage wrinkled his nose at the comment, feeling as though Luci had slipped one of his many tiny knives into his back. Now that was going a bit too far. Only _he _was allowed to damage his own self-esteem, _thank you very much_. 

“Hey,” he barked at Luci. “Fuck off, and let’s play the game already.” 

“We’re just going to do a straight ‘whoever-finishes-first,’ that’s it?” Luci looked at him bored.

Talmage thought about making yet another “straight boy” joke but held off. “You got a problem with the game, Luci?”

“I dunno, I just would rather play a more interesting game. I was having more fun playing liar’s dice and taking Rocco and Bishop’s money. I wanna go play darts—do you think they’ll let me use my knives?”

Talmage’s stomach sank a little.  _ He _ was fun!  _ I’m FUN _ , Talmage thought desperately. God, if he could only remember a fun drinking game, but his brain was coming up blank for some reason as he glowered up at Luci’s unimpressed face. 

“Not unless you’re willing to pay for the damage—how about Two Truths and a Lie?” suggested Talmage idly. 

“That’s so, I don’t know, middle school,” Luci groaned, pulling a face at him.

“Never Have I Ever,” Talmage tried again.

“Those are like the  _ same  _ game, basically…”

“What, are you worried you’ll lose because you’re so vanilla?” Talmage teased. It was so hard to resist that one particular button that riled Luci up so easily.

“No!” Luci looked at him indignantly. Talmage really enjoyed the moments he managed to get that look out of Luci; the way his brow furrowed and his lower lip stuck out subconsciously when Talmage teased him. Thankfully, he caught himself staring at Luci’s lips and looked away before the boy seemed to notice.

The two sat in silence for a moment, holding their entirely full drinks a bit stupidly.

“Quarters,” suggested Luci finally.

“Fine.”

Luci pulled out a pair of coins from his pocket and handed one to Talmage before placing the extra drink Talmage had given him on the bar in front of them. 

“This way it’ll be fair, one drink each, loser finishes that cup,” said Luci as he thumbed his coin between his fingers, attempting to make it dance over his knuckles. 

Talmage resisted the urge to retort that, no, it wasn’t really _fair _because Luci had been trained to juggle knives at the circus for years and had the dexterity of a monkey, while Talmage was still learning to toss his magic-imbued “returning” knife—which, when flung away from him, would return instantly to his hand—without injuring someone, or himself. But he refused to give Luci the satisfaction that he was better than Talmage at this without even putting up a fight.

“I’ll go first,” Luci offered. He lined up his coin with the cup and in one swift motion bounced it off of the table. It landed straight in the glass with a soft splash and a  _ clink _ .

Luci looked over at him, only slightly proud of himself. “Drink, bitch.”

Talmage grimaced at him but complied. At least he could sip from his own drink this time. While Luci fished out his own coin, Talmage took up his and aimed the coin at the glass. Letting out a focused breath, Talmage flicked his wrist back and bounced the coin off the bar. The coin smacked sadly onto the wood of the bar next to the glass; he had failed to get the coin to bounce on its side.

“Close,” said Luci, smirking slightly. “You’ve gotta put your whole arm into it, watch.” He flicked Talmage’s coin back at him before taking his turn again.

Had he not just missed his shot pathetically, Talmage would have made another lewd joke about Luci’s arm technique, but he restrained himself and focused on watching Luci’s next turn instead. Luci’s coin bounced just barely off the rim of the glass.

Pushing back the swirling drunkenness that was beginning to creep in at the edges of his vision, Talmage summoned all of his focus without looking like he was trying _too _hard. God, that rum and soda really had done a number on him. This time, he successfully knocked his quarter off the rim of the glass into the drink.

“Ha!” Talmage exclaimed a bit too loudly, but he looked at Luci smugly.

“Hm.” Luci looked at the cup noncommittally, already taking a large sip from his own drink.

Luci went again and scored another shot, forcing Talmage to drink once more. Unfortunately, Talmage missed his next three shots and was quickly becoming irritated and bored. When Luci sank yet another shot, Talmage finished his drink and looked at Luci.

“Okay, woohoo, you won,” Talmage said sarcastically. “God, straight people really do play the most  _ boring  _ games.”

“Whatever,” Luci retorted, but Talmage could see the comment had gotten to him, and he was flushing red. “You’re just mad you lost.”

“Let’s just finish our drinks and go do something that’s  _ actually  _ fun,” said Talmage quickly, baring his teeth in a not-so friendly smile. He took up his glass and, same as he had done before, knocked back the drink. He wasn’t used to drinking so quickly, except when he was alone and angry sitting at some bar, and he got a whiff of secondhand cigarette smoke in the air, which reminded him of all the other boys he’d loved or  _ tried  _ to love before, and the smell was enough to make him want to get drunk  _ right then _ . Though his feeling right now wasn’t at all nearly the same; he had just become impatient with Luci and wanted to speed things up.

Sure, the thought of hooking up with Luci had unfortunately occurred to him several times already. Luci acted straight, but at the same time Talmage had never seen a more gay-bait looking twink. And he’d be lying if he hadn’t considered making a move on Luci; after all, Luci had been constantly flirting with him, right? He wasn’t if Luci was a virgin, or if he simply had yet to have his first gay awakening experience, something Talmage flat out refused to be reponsible for, no matter how much he had thought about Luci.

He was also confident if they walked into a  _ different  _ kind of bar that Luci would be immediately swept up by some large, hairy looking man in tight black leather several years his senior. Talmage immediately brushed away the thought of that particular pairing because the large leather-clad man he was picturing suddenly morphed into Bishop in his mind—in his  _ fucking stupid  _ “lorts”—and he was suddenly both jealous and uncomfortably warm in the stomach. How a fake scenario he just thought up in his head could make him so bothered, he couldn’t understand. But it did give him an idea.

Idly finishing the rest of his drink which had been still quite full, Luci fished out his quarter and took back the one he’d lent to Talmage. He scooped up the quarters glass and proceeded to double-fist both of the drinks in the most casual way that one  _ could  _ double-fist a fruity pink drink and a cheap dark brown rum and soda. Talmage made a face just thinking about the combination of liquids in his mouth.

While Luci was finishing, Talmage glanced over at the others. Bishop was resting his head in a defeated way on the table, dice tumbling sadly out of his hand, while Rocco seemed to have worked himself up once again. Raja was picking at her teeth with one of her claws as she took back another large chunk of the coins on the table. Feeling restless, he grabbed Luci by the arm and dragged him back to the table. Were it not for his mouthful of drinks, Luci would have protested but obliged rather than choke or spill his drinks all over himself.

“Hey, this place sucks, let’s go to a different bar,” said Talmage flatly when he reached their table. 

“Where could you possibly want to go to that could be better than this place?” Bishop asked, lifting his head up off the table to look at Talmage.

Talmage frowned. “Bishop, not everyone wants to sit in a tavern filled with patrons the age of our parents, who are all playing the same boring card games over and over, okay? There isn’t even any music. I can still clearly hear myself when I talk. That means it’s a bad bar.”

“He has a point,” Raja said, sitting up from her pile of coins that she was counting, the other clawed hand flipping her special gold coin between her knuckles. “I wouldn’t mind going somewhere with a little more... _ life _ in it. We’re certainly not making much headway with this game anyway.”

“Great, I know a place—let’s go,” said Talmage hastily.

“Wait, where are we going?” Rocco looked at Talmage, both excited and curious.

“Just come on,  _ trust  _ me.” 

“Okay!” Rocco stood up quickly, bouncing on the heels of his feet.

Bishop sighed, feeling ten times older than he actually was, and begrudgingly stood up with the rest of them. The gang exited the bar, but not before the bar owner accosted Bishop on the way out, pointing at the pink tiefling and dark haired boy and then jerking his thumb back to their empty drink glasses at the bar. Bishop apologized profusely for his companions behavior, mentioned that it wouldn’t happen again, and paid for the drinks with a nice tip.

  
  


====


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> talmage wants to take him to a gay bar

“This way—around this corner.”

Talmage had been leading the group down dimly lit backstreets for several minutes, and it seemed to drag on longer than it should have, given the intoxicated state that nearly everyone had reached for the evening. 

“Talmage, could you at least tell us  _ where _ we are going?” Bishop asked plainly, tucking his wings closer to his body in order to squeeze through the narrow alley they had just entered.

“We’re almost there, just hang on,” replied Talmage cooly.

The pink tiefling slipped around another corner and stopped in his tracks waiting for his party to catch up. Talmage had led them to what appeared to be another empty alleyway with nothing in it but the brick walls of buildings. 

Rocco bounced excitedly on the balls of his feet. Bishop, Luci, and Raja looked at Talmage doubtfully, irritated even. Sensing some of their uncertainty, Talmage began quickly looking around the alleyway.

“Professor Radious told me about this place while we were staying with him in Highkeep,” Talmage said, pressing his hands to the walls of the buildings and running his fingers along them. To anyone else, and well, frankly, to his current party, he looked like he was attempting to give the wall a nice massage. Eventually his fingers brushed over something, and he let his fingers drift a couple inches from the bricks; it looked like Talmage was a mime trying to convince you that there was an invisible apple floating there in mid-air.

He pulled out the paintbrush from his pocket that he used to cast most of his spells. Due to the bright white brand on his neck, Talmage was unable to cast normal wizard magic without alerting the Vale to his location, so he compensated by using ink as a workaround for most of his spellcasting. He scribbled a message on the wall, which glowed faintly, magically, before disappearing like invisible ink. The group heard a soft  _ click! _ Talmage stood back from the wall, a self-satisfied smirk on his face.

The brick wall before them shifted like a mirage coming off the pavement on an unbearably hot summer day, and the bricks slowly melted away from their vision. They were now standing before a dingy-looking red door with a singular rickety light hanging above that flickered every time a big moth passed through it. There wasn’t even a sign to be found anywhere in sight.

“Uh, Talmage? I don’t think we should go in there,” Rocco started nervously. “Mr. Graves said I’m not allowed to be in this part of town and told me I shouldn’t go in  _ this  _ place specifically.”

Talmage looked like he was going to slap Rocco up the backside of his head, and maybe he would have if he wasn’t so terrified that somehow,  _ somewhere _ , Mr. Graves—Rocco’s glorified babysitter and lethal assassin—was watching them from the shadows. 

“Listen, Rocco, you’re going to have to make your own big boy decisions some day. Why not start right now?” Talmage suggested this as friendly as he could manage to get out. Luckily, convincing Rocco to do most anything was terribly easy.

“Mmm...okay, but I do remember one time Hector got in BIG trouble for sneaking out and getting caught by Mr. Graves at this same place!”

Talmage looked at Rocco curiously, wondering what new information he’d learn about Hector next.

“Sounds like your brother knew how to actually have a good time, Rocco,” said Talmage, lacing his tone with a honeyed temptation.  _ Come on, Rocco, be gay, or  _ AT LEAST _ do a crime _ , Talmage pleaded internally.

Rocco looked around nervously as if  _ also  _ searching for Mr. Graves in the dark. Bishop was pacing around, inspecting the alleyway like he was expecting someone to jump them. He was still new to the area after all and didn’t know what to expect, so he was usually always on guard. Raja, however, was already confidently striding towards the door, fully intending to leave everyone behind.

“Mmmm...okay!” Rocco finally said, the excitement bubbling up as he smiled at Talmage. “If you say it’ll be fun and safe, I trust you!”

Talmage doubted whether this place would be  _ safe  _ for Rocco—he had the same concerns he did for Luci, about some older dude coming and scooping up this idiot blue twink and innocently offering him a lick of his popsicle—but he figured that Bishop would be able to babysit or intervene if things got weird.

Trailing in behind Raja, the group walked down an extremely dark staircase that seemed as though it would lead them off a vast cliff at any given moment. Bishop’s bright sword glowed in the complete darkness, lighting their way. After about two flights, they thankfully reached the bottom, and an aggressive looking woman accosted them. 

“Hang on, need a look at you four,” said the deep, gravelly voice of a tall—nearly as tall as Bishop’s six-and-a-half foot frame—dark green-skinned woman. Two large, tusk-like teeth protruded from her lower lip, and upon her forehead rested what appeared to be two thick horns, like the ones Talmage and Rocco had, except hers had been filed down to flat discs. 

It was only a momentary stop, for one glance at the group—from the blue and pink tieflings to the massive angel-winged man—seemed to be enough for the bouncer to let the group pass. 

An arm suddenly shot out past Talmage, grabbing onto Luci’s shoulder.

“Wait,” she commanded gruffly.

“Ow, jeez, could you loosen your grip a little?” Luci protested, trying weakly to struggle out of the woman’s grasp, but she held him with ease.

“You’re human,” she stated simply, eyes narrowing.

“And  _ you’re _ not, glad all of our eyes seem to work here,” he mumbled under his breath, not looking at her.

The big woman’s already frowning face shifted even further down towards displeasure. Talmage stepped between them.

“He’s with me,” he said hastily, grabbing Luci’s arm. Luci jumped at the touch. “I  _ promise  _ he’s like us. He’s safe.”

The woman looked at the tiny pink tiefling before her in silence for a moment, still frowning deeply.

“Prove it.”

Talmage sighed and hurriedly whispered into Luci’s ear.  _ Okay, you  _ have  _ to do something magical, or she won’t let you in. Can you just make one of your knives glow or something?? _

Luci looked like he could kill Talmage in that moment.

“You didn’t tell me this was a  _ magic  _ thing, asshole,” Luci whispered loudly. 

Talmage growled and whipped out his paintbrush. He wrote a message on Luci’s arm, as he had done a couple times before. Suddenly, a voice sounded in Luci’s head, slightly far away, like Talmage were whispering into his head without opening his mouth. 

_ It’s not, it’s just—look, no humans are allowed her without good reason. They need to make sure you’re not a Vale spy. _

Luci sighed loudly and yanked his arm away from Talmage while pulling out one of his many knives. 

“ _ Luci _ —” Bishop began.

The woman reflexively grabbed a large warhammer at her side, but before she could draw it Luci had already closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and suddenly the dagger glowed a bright, white radiant light. The tusk-toothed woman relaxed her grip on her weapon and looked at Talmage, mildly impressed.

“Alright, have a good time and  _ don’t  _ cause any trouble, or you’ll be hearing from me,” she threatened while looking directly at Luci and his knife, and then stepped aside.

They entered what appeared to be a small, dark underground nightclub. Except it wasn’t exactly the high-class kind, not that the front door gave any indication that it would be. At best, it could be described as a messy mix between a grungy dive bar turned punk dance hall. There was a rather tiny and sad looking dance floor, though it was filled with quite a few patrons at the moment, who were all smashed together listening to a small band wail on guitars and drums. The music they were playing—some would have argued if it even could be classified as “music”—was loud and screechy. 

In the back was the singular bar, which showed a good deal of wear, the bronze rails along it faded with age and stained from many greasy, sweaty hands. Along the cold cement walls hung massive metal chains—for what reason, none of them could really guess, but Talmage assured them it was mostly for the aesthetic.  _ It’s symbolic, you know, those of us who had to throw off the chains of our oppressors, okay? _ Talmage explained to them. And if the darkness wasn’t enough to indicate that they were currently well beneath the city, the deep, earthy smell and uncomfortably warm, stale air was a constant reminder.

“Wait, Talmage, what kind of bar is this?” Bishop asked suspiciously, as the noise in the room lulled, the band finishing a song to the hollering of the rowdy crowd.

“The  _ fun  _ kind,” Talmage stated, as if that should have been obvious to Bishop, and he made his way to the bar like he knew what he was doing.

Mostly for lack of knowing what to do, they all followed Talmage to order drinks. Talmage leaned over the bar confidently and waved at one of the bartenders who seemed to recognize him and began making him a drink without being told. Luci leaned his back up against the bar next to Talmage and spotted Raja in a corner, who was already talking to a short-haired woman displaying a veritable punk aesthetic with many piercings.

“Well, Raja’s already made a friend,” noted Luci, raising his eyebrows.

“See? This place can be  _ fun _ for you guys,” said Talmage.

Either she overheard him or she could feel their eyes on her back—both were definitely possible. Raja looked back at Talmage in a way that suggested,  _ I’m both honored you guessed correctly, yet simultaneously irritated that you could so obviously tell _ . Talmage grinned at her, his hand gently resting under his chin. 

“Talmage.” 

He turned around to Bishop who was frowning at him and holding one hand steady on Rocco’s shoulder.

“Yes, Bishop?” 

“This wouldn’t happen to be a gay bar, would it?”

“Is there  _ something wrong with that _ ?” 

Bishop stiffened and shook his head. “No. Of course not.”

“Then why are you asking.”

“Well,  _ is it _ ?”

Talmage sighed. “Kind of. It’s mostly just a bar where _interesting_ people hang out,” he said casually. “Besides, ‘gay bar’ is so, I don’t know, old-fashioned, Bishop. Nobody uses labels like that anymore. _Alternative lifestyles_ are welcome here. It’s safe for _people like us._ Just think of it that way.”

“I suppose that appears to be true.” Bishop noted that most of the clientele here were certainly more than normative—he spotted people with pointed ears and people who looked far shorter than a human. Or people like the woman Raja was talking to, but as he looked around Raja and the woman she was talking to seemed to have mysteriously disappeared.

“Plus,” he added looking over at a pair of people who were helping someone climb onto the stage to sing, “I believe it’s karaoke night.” 

“THESE are my people,” Talmage yelled over the music as the band began again, gesturing with his hand openly at the crowd. 

“I see,” Bishop replied at the same volume.

“Loosen up a little, would ya,” Talmage moaned, taking his drink from the bartender, flicking his tail behind him, and hopping down from the stool so Luci and Bishop could order, not that Bishop needed a stool at any rate.

“I’ll have one beer,” Bishop stated, leaning his head down towards the man behind the bar, who gave Bishop the full once-over curiously. 

“Sure thing, big guy,” they said with a wink, glancing down at Bishop’s lorts. “Haven’t seen you before. This one’s on the house.”

Bishop turned around, looking a bit proud. “People like my, lorts, here,” he shouted pointing at his legs and grinning.

“Oh yeah, people  _ love  _ lorts here, Bishop,” Talmage said, mock genuine. “It’s the style.”

Bishop took no notice of his tone but picked up his beer after giving them a generous tip and settled himself at one of the few small tables scattered in front of the bar. Rocco soon followed suit, and then it was just Luci and Talmage left standing at the bar. Luci was busy ordering himself another drink; Talmage decided it was best not to pick on him for his drink choices anymore.

“This place have any darts?” Luci asked him.

“WHAT?” Talmage yelled, unable to hear Luci over the progressively louder guitars riffing in the background and the randomly selected singer screaming at the top of their lungs.

“DARTS!”

“OH!” Talmage looked around. “OF COURSE IT HAS DARTS, IT’S A GAY BAR, IDIOT.”

“I DON’T KNOW WHY THAT MEANS IT HAS DARTS.”

“JUST GET YOUR DRINK AND COME ON. I NEED TO GO TO THE BATHROOM FIRST.”

They left their drinks at the table with Bishop and Rocco and headed towards the opposite side of the room past the stage and dance floor. Following the only source of lights along the walls of the venue, they found the rather filthy bathroom making Talmage wonder if it had  _ ever  _ been cleaned in this century. The sounds of the ear-splitting music muffled considerably as the door slammed shut behind them.

“God, this place is like, so loud,” Luci complained, sticking his finger in his ear with a disgruntled twist, as if it would help.

“Don’t be such a baby,” Talmage said, walking past him to go use one of the stalls.

When he’d finished and came out to wash his hands, he found Luci playing with one of his many knives, which made Talmage feel a little guilty as he recalled the incident with the bouncer from earlier. Swallowing his pride a little, Talmage decided to apologize for making him use magic in a high pressure moment on such short notice.

“Mhm. ‘s fine,” Luci mumbled, not looking at him but continuing to play with his knife.

Talmage shrugged, finished washing his hands and dried them. Deciding to take advantage of the quieter space, he leaned against the sink and addressed Luci.

“So what’s your  _ deal _ .”

“What do you mean.”

“Don’t play dumb,” Talmage started. “You’re like,  _ constantly _ flirting with Bishop.” Talmage knowingly replaced “himself” with “Bishop” in that sentence; Bishop was a safe option with which Talmage could judge Luci’s reactions.

“What?”

“I  _ know  _ you want him to fuck you.”

Luci rounded on him. “What the  _ fuck,  _ Talmage!”

“Am I wrong?”

“It’s not— _ listen. _ That’s  _ gross _ , I don’t want him to FUCK me, jesus, Talmage…”

“Sure seems like you want him to fuck you; I saw what you were doing at the inn a few weeks back with that whole ‘lorts incident.’” Talmage laughed a little at the memory.

Luci flushed red. “Whatever!!! I was drunk, I’m not responsible for whatever YOU think I said—” He paused. “It doesn’t mean I want to fuck Bishop, okay?”

Talmage smirked. “No, I know, you want to  _ get fucked. _ ”

Luci growled in frustration, his cheeks now bright red. Talmage kept grinning at him.

“I’m like—god—I  _ CAN fuck _ , okay?? Is that what you want to hear?” Luci threw up his hands in defeat.

Talmage stared at him. He wasn’t sure what exactly he wanted Luci to confess, but this was entertaining enough. Luci closed his eyes and took a deep breath, calming himself down. Talmage could tell that the alcohol from the last bar was definitely hitting the both of them quite hard at this point.

“Listen, I don’t even like d-dudes like that, like woah,” he stuttered out stupidly. “What even gives you that impression?”

“Well, I somehow  _ cannot  _ imagine you topping anyone in any situation. At best, I could see some girl pegging you—”

“What.”

“What?”

“Pegging me??”

“Yeah.”

“I don’t, understand—”

“What, you don’t understand  _ pegging _ , or you don’t understand that you’re a sub?”

“I KNOW WHAT PEGGING IS!” 

Luci suddenly pushed Talmage with both of his hands, causing him to bump his head against the mirror over the sink. It only hurt a  _ little _ , yet Talmage was paying more attention to the pleasant flipping sensation in his stomach and the sudden warmth between his hips and along his tail; if anyone else been watching they would have seen it turn a deeper shade of indigo at the tip of his two-toned tail.

Talmage started laughing again, pleased that he had gotten such a reaction out of Luci. He had clearly hit one of his weak points.

“See?  _ That  _ was pretty weak.”

Luci scowled at him. “WHATEVER. It’s not like you’re a top either, just look at yourself.”

Talmage’s demeanor instantly dropped, and he bared his teeth at Luci menacingly.

“YOU WOULDN’T RECOGNIZE A TOP IF IT WAS ON A JAR OF PICKLES!” Talmage exclaimed angrily.

“CAN WE BE DONE WITH THIS POINTLESS CONVERSATION NOW,” Luci yelled, just as loud. “YOU SAID THERE ARE DARTS. I WANT TO GO PLAY DARTS.”

Talmage huffed and pushed past Luci to leave the bathroom. Back outside, they collected their drinks from the table where Bishop and Rocco were sitting and observing karaoke. Rocco was cheering loudly at every opportunity, and Bishop looked content. Somehow, Bishop and Rocco had acquired several more drinks, which, judging by the many looks Talmage spotted while wading through the area, were from several interested parties.  _ Everybody has their type, I guess _ , thought Talmage, a little amused. Bishop was especially getting a lot of looks like the one the bartender had given him, though this was certainly not the first time that someone had hit on Bishop at a bar. He decided to leave them to their own devices.

Talmage led Luci around the right side of the bar to a squashed alcove which housed a single pool table that took up most of the space, as well as a singular dart board next to it on the wall. A few peculiar looking people were leaning against the pool table drinking, not really playing anything in particular. Luci went straight over to the dart board and pulled out the darts stuck into it. 

“Wanna play?” He asked Talmage casually, having taken a big swig of his drink and cooled off considerably from the shouting match in the bathroom.

“Uh, you know what, I’ll just watch this round,” Talmage replied, looking bored and seating himself on one of the few stools next to the pool table.

“You worried I’ll beat you again?” 

Talmage did  _ not  _ appreciate his tone. “No! I just—”

“Would you like a partner?” 

A low, vaguely disinterested voice asked from behind them. Only it wasn’t a request, it was a threat. Luci and Talmage turned to see a familiar tall, thin half-elf man in a delicately tailored three-piece navy blue suit, a singular black eyepatch affixed to his face. 

“M-Mr. Graves,” Talmage stuttered out. “What  _ are  _ the chances!” His voice feigned mock surprise.

Mr. Graves didn’t smile or offer his hand. “The chances are not coincidental. I needed to keep an eye on Rocco, since you managed to convince him to enter a bar that  _ I  _ had  _ forbidden  _ him to enter.”

A drop of sweat leaked down Talmage’s back. He held up his hands in a shrug. “What can I say, I think your son likes me!”

The half-elf’s one remaining eye twitched at the word  _ son _ , the cool grey color of his iris looking as cold and disinterested as the day they had met him. Ignoring Talmage’s retort, he held out three darts in the palm of his gloved hand. 

“I brought my own personal set,” he stated in his usual monotone.

“ _ Fantastic _ , Luci was just looking for a pal to play with,” said Talmage who then pushed Luci forward with both hands.

Luci glowered at his pink tiefling companion but sized himself up in front of the man, refusing to look weak. Swallowing hard, he tried desperately not to think about the first time he’d met Mr. Graves, or more accurately,  _ hadn’t  _ seen him, a long knife had appeared in his pocket. Despite Rocco’s insistence—“ _ it just means he  _ really _ likes you! _ ”—Luci was convinced this man was slowly hunting him and would turn up in his bed someday with a knife to his throat.

“Ah, mmhm, yep. You play?” Luci asked casually, his voice lowered an octave conspicuously.

Mr. Graves nodded, pointing to the sign along the wall next to the dart board. The name “Issac Graves” was written on a long list of names, along with a matching list of scores. His name was at the top. Talmage wondered how he had never seen Mr. Graves—Luci smiled weakly.

With the terms set, Luci stepped to the side courteously to let Mr. Graves go first. Spreading his legs into a confident and sturdy stance, he raised his arm and aimed carefully. 

With a lethal speed, the dart sunk into the cork, millimeters from the top of the bullseye. Talmage let out a low whistle and heard Luci swallow hard again next to him. Having never really played, much less cared about darts, Talmage wasn’t sure if Mr. Graves had “scored a good point” or whatever, but the display was enough to make Luci visibly shiver, which tickled Talmage delightfully. His tail swished in anticipation: now  _ this  _ was going to be good.

Without a word, Mr. Graves stepped aside and gestured for Luci to take his turn. As he did, Talmage leaned in swiftly and whispered, “ _ you’re going to lose. _ ”

Luci slammed the remainder of his darts into the wooden stool that Talmage was sitting on, where they vibrated in the wood mere centimeters from his leg. A hint of his trademark radiant magic glowed faintly off of them. Talmage shivered slightly; the thought of Luci’s magic being so powerful did worry him a bit sometimes. The remainder of Luci’s magic tickled Talmage’s leg and sent what felt like static electricity straight to his groin. Discreetly as he could, he covered his mouth and squeezed his legs, glancing out of the corner of his eye to see Mr. Graves’ singular eye watching him.

Stepping up to the line, Luci adjusted his stance as his opponent had done, took a deep focusing breath, and flicked his dart expertly at the board. It landed right next to Mr. Graves’ dart—any closer and he might have split the dart in two or, more realistically, it would have bounced right off the dart.

“Admirable,” noted Mr. Graves, and Luci looked at him, offended. Talmage held his hand over his mouth to silence a hard laugh, attempting to cover it with a false cough.

The rest of the game proceeded just as close and tense. Every hard shot Mr. Graves made, Luci matched in skill and dexterity. He only faltered once after a bullseye, at which point Mr. Graves’ hand gently grazed Luci’s hip, causing Luci’s magic to slip out of his fingers in a panic into his dart on his next shot, sending the dart missing by miles.

When the game was nearing its conclusion, Talmage had slipped away briefly to grab himself another drink. He walked past the table where Bishop and Rocco were sitting. Rocco was eyeing the heavy chains along the wall with interest. Talmage only prayed for his own safety that Rocco wouldn’t somehow strangle himself in one of them, lest he face the wrath of Mr. Graves. Bishop was talking with a rather large and furry looking gentleman. His size would have rivaled Bishop’s if they stood side-by-side. Raja was still nowhere to be seen. 

Giving them both a thumbs-up from afar, Talmage sidled over to the bar again. Collecting his drink, he then slipped back into the side area to watch the Luci finish his match. 

By the time Talmage made it back, the game appeared to have already been wrapped up. Keeping his distance just out of sight for the moment, Talmage spied on the pair from the corner. Mr. Graves was talking in a low, inaudible tone with Luci. The intimidating man had closed the gap between himself and Luci, mere inches from Luci’s frame, all manner of personal space removed by this point. Casually, Mr. Graves then rested his hand above the wall behind Luci, leaning down towards Luci’s shorter stature, which also conveniently blocked Luci in with him. 

Talmage could see the sweat beading off of Luci’s neck nervously, dripping down gently between his chest through the fabric of his shirt, which instantly inspired a rather inappropriate scene in Talmage’s mind. His throat tightened instinctively. He blinked his eyes quickly as though worried the private thoughts of his mind could somehow be intruded on by others.  _ Well _ , he thought,  _ that is entirely possible. Magic  _ does  _ exist _ . Especially with the current company he was surrounded by in the bar.

  
Just then, he had another brilliant idea.

Talmage produced a small trinket from his pocket. It was a small, retractable silver telescope, and the glass of the curvature was almond shaped, like an eye. Professor Radious had given this little gift to Talmage in secret, with the express purpose of being used to spy on Aurabri so that Talmage might collect more Vale secrets for him. Despite this, Professor Radious, knowing Talmage  _ very  _ well, had to have known that Talmage would end up using it for something other than just spying on Aurabri. He felt a  _ little  _ guilty about even considering this, but it was for Luci’s own good, Talmage reassured himself. After all, he was just looking out for him like a good friend would.

Radious had informed Talmage that the trinket had one charge per day and that it contained a fully prepared scrying spell that would cast instantaneously—a special personal flair that he’d imbued it with. Quietly cursing himself for not stealing a strand of Luci’s hair or another personal affect that he could use as a component, Talmage retracted the telescope discreetly. Luckily, since he knew Luci well enough and could actually see him from where he was standing, Talmage managed to successfully lock the eye onto Luci unnoticed by him; though he was deeply worried that Mr. Graves would somehow notice. Talmage held the telescope in one hand, waving the other over the glass. In a flash of Radious’s warm and familiar yellowish magic, it activated.

In a blink, his consciousness teleported thirty feety across the room. Suddenly, he was floating next to Luci and Mr. Graves, though his body, he could see, was still half-hidden behind a pillar exactly where he had been previously standing. Talmage understood how this spell worked, of course. He’d been caught using it before at school before, so he knew what he was doing this time. At least he hoped.

“Mr. Lucile,” Mr. Graves was saying, demurely. “Is something wrong?”

“I, uhhh, shuld prolly be getting back to my group...”

“Relax, I’m not trying to break up your little date,” Mr. Graves suggested, raising one eyebrow at the boy.

“Wh-what? I-It’s not a date...” Luci was squirming and also  _ very  _ drunk. Talmage could see that Luci’s hands were sweaty and shaking. 

Mr. Graves leaned in so that he could whisper in Luci’s ear. 

_ Dammit,  _ Talmage thought,  _ I can’t fucking hear! _

Though, it didn’t seem to matter—the idea was clear. Luci instantly paled, now nearly as white as the color of his radiant magic. 

“I-I didn’t think that you were, sir,” Luci spluttered. “Is this some kinda weird magic thing?”

_ Oh my god,  _ Talmage thought, gleeful.  _ Is Mr. Graves hitting on Luci? _

Luci’s mouth gaped open stupidly. Talmage was  _ living _ for this.

_ You could not be fucking this up more, Luci. You’re  _ SO  _ goddamn oblivious, I swear,  _ Talmage thought, a wave of secondhand embarrassment washing over him.  _ Idiot twink. _

“WHOA! Wh—wait...” Luci held up his hands in a pathetic defense and tried to put some distance between them by pushing his hands against Mr. Graves’ chest. Swiftly, the half-elf caught both of Luci’s wrists in his gloved hands. Just then, Mr. Graves glanced down at Luci’s groin, which had a very noticeable hard-on forming. He looked back up at Luci, his demeanor unchanged. 

“Hang on—that’s not—it’s  _ not what it looks like, _ ” said Luci seriously, but he was too drunk to think straight. His eyes kept dropping nervously between Mr. Graves’ legs.

Mr. Graves leaned in again, his head blocking Talmage’s view from his locked position. Internally, Talmage laughed, nervous.  _ What the fuck?? _

As Luci wiggled uncomfortably against Mr. Graves, Talmage’s mind began to spiral with too many thoughts all at once. He thought this was what he wanted, in the long run—to have some other dope be in charge of Luci’s first gay encounter so he wouldn’t have to be responsible for the inevitably awkward first time hookup. He certainly hadn’t expected  _ this  _ to happen—Talmage mostly wanted to go out and spend the night having fun with his friends, listening to bad karaoke, maybe doing some singing of his own. This was all suddenly getting a little too  _ real _ . And he did not like it.

His whole idea was to pursue Luci when he was more...experienced _ . _ However, being privy to this encounter  _ wasn’t  _ part of the plan, and he felt an unexpectedly hot churning sensation in his mind. He started to wish that  _ he  _ were the one standing in front of Luci right now,  _ not  _ Mr. Graves. He hated himself for even thinking such pathetic thoughts and felt angry that he hadn’t worked up the courage to go for Luci sooner.  _ If he wasn’t so fucking oblivious, so embarassing about his sexuality, then maybe I wouldn’t be in this situation!  _ It was a wildly selfish thought.

Having no way to hear or reposition for a better view of their faces, Talmage distractedly watched the sweat continue to soak through Luci’s shirt and noticed the perceptible outline of Luci’s nipples pressing outward against the tight fabric. Just then, his focus finally faltered, and the spell released its hold early.  _ Fuck!  _

In an instant he felt his non-corporeal self warp backwards into his body. It was unsettling and caused his body to jerk suddenly. Unfortunately, this did not go unnoticed by Luci who then looked past the side of Mr. Graves at him, his eyes beseeching Talmage with angry desperation.  _ Maybe he hadn’t noticed the spell?  _ Talmage hoped, his heart pounding in panic. He decided it was time to actually intervene; a knot was already beginning to twist in his stomach painfully.  _ Fuckfuckfuck, _ he screamed at himself miserably, covering his face with both hands. He couldn’t believe he was  _ this _ jealous. 

Mustering up his best fake “wasted” face, Talmage sauntered over.

“Heyyy,” Talmage cooed sliding in between the pair, wrapping an arm around Luci. “I’m sooo  _ drunk _ , can we go home now?”

Luci looked at him mortified with a look that screamed,  _ how the fuck is this going to help me?? _

Talmage glared back at him screaming internally.  _ Just go with it, idiot! _

Undeterred, Mr. Graves leaned back from Luci, eyeing Talmage icily. “You’re lucky to be in such a safe location, otherwise that little spell of yours might have alerted the Vale, being misused in such  _ inexperienced  _ hands as yours.”

Biting back a hostile remark, Talmage dropped his front and gritted his teeth.  _ Shit. _

“S-spell?” Luci stuttered dumbly.

“It’s nothing,” Talmage said hastily.

“ _ Spell?! _ ” demanded Luci, more darkly.

“ _ It’s. Nothing _ .” Talmage glared at him. “I told you, Luci, we’re safe in this bar. The Vale doesn’t know about it.”

“Yet,” remarked Mr. Graves, who had somehow pulled out one of his many long knives without the pair noticing and was polishing it with a special cloth. Talmage felt Luci shake against his shoulder.

“Well,  _ anyway _ , if you two finished your little game, I think it’s time for us to go back and check on our dear, dear Rocco,” said Talmage. Sliding his hand down around Luci’s hip, he yanked the boy away from the reach of Mr. Graves.

“I’ve already sent him home with Bishop,” replied Mr. Graves cooly. 

Talmage considered asking how Mr. Graves had magically managed to pin Luci to the wall  _ and  _ send Rocco home in the short time between when Talmage had returned from the bar and now, but he thought better. 

“All the better! We’ll be seeing you, I’m sure,” said Talmage, and he dragged Luci out of the room. 

As soon as they were out of sight and earshot, they instantly released their hold on one another. Luci sank forward, his back arching in relief and his head hanging in shame.

“Why the fuck did you bring me here?” He moaned.

“It’s not like I knew that  _ he  _ would be here!”

Shifting uncomfortably, Luci attempted to will away the hard-on that was still pressing outward noticeably through his pants.

“Sorry, I just thought this place would help loosen you up a little,” Talmage replied nonchalantly, his eyes glancing at Luci’s groin. “You’re always so  _ pent up _ . Not my fault you flag as gay twink cruising for action.”

“You’re such a  _ brat _ , Talmage,” Luci hissed at him, straightening up again.

Talmage just looked at him, gleeful. 

“How much of that could you see, anyway?”

“Oh, not much,” Talmage lied, “Too far away. Anyway, Rocco and Bishop have indeed left, as far as I can tell.”

Luci nodded and sighed with relief. “Well, I’ve had enough  _ fun  _ here tonight. I’m going back to the inn.”

He made a motion to leave towards the door, but Talmage stopped him. “Wait.”

“Talmage, please I feel like my fingers are going to burst,” Luci whined.

“Th—that’s not a  _ normal _ thing to be feeling, Luci, you know that, right,” said Talmage, suddenly worried Luci was going to start exploding things he touched again as he had before in previous fights when his magic overflowed.  _ Too much goddamn pent up magic that he refuses to deal with _ , he thought angrily. Talmage had been trying to convince Luci to use his magic more, mostly to no avail so far. 

Luci just made a face at him and walked towards the door without another word. Talmage reluctantly followed him out and up the darkened staircase again, with the same terrifying bouncer wishing them a good night.

When they resurfaced—literally—on the outside again, Talmage reached for Luci’s arm, as he had before on several occasions, but ended up grabbing his hand accidentally. 

“Luci—”

Luci froze and whipped around to glare at him.

“ _ What is it— _ ”

“Just,  _ come here _ .” Talmage ignored the rising flush in his own cheeks and pulled Luci over against the wall. 

====


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> what if we kissed outside the illegal magical gay bar

Gripping Luci’s arm tightly, Talmage forced him to stop against the wall of the alleyway. Two arms snaked around Luci’s neck, and Talmage pulled him down, hard, to his face. It was certainly _ not _romantic. Talmage didn’t care. He preferred it this way. Immediately, Talmage felt Luci freeze in surprise, but as Talmage pushed himself against his chest, he could feel Luci’s shaking fingers start to settle on Talmage’s hips. 

Talmage kissed him with the sort of attention he would kiss any of his hookups—aggressive, usually a little bit drunk, but not forceful. He pulled back a little, waiting for Luci to recoup from his initial shock. Luci looked down at Talmage, dazed and hot in the face, his half-lidded eyes focusing on his lips; his cheeks were burning the same dark scarlet of his crop top. Talmage stared at Luci’s chest, panting—a combination of running up the stairs after Luci and holding his breath when he had kissed him. 

“Talmage—” Luci began, also out of breath.

“You’ve been flirting with me for _ weeks _,” Talmage interrupted. “And you took too long to make a move.”

Luci just stared at him, mouth agape, completely puzzled.

“You _ have _ been flirting, right?” Talmage asked him, now slightly uncertain. “Like, I’m not just making this shit up.”

Luci looked offended. “I _ haven’t _been flirting with you! I mean, I mess with you plenty, sure, but that’s not the same—”

Talmage raised his eyebrows.

“So you want to do this or what,” Talmage asked firmly, glancing at Luci’s hips and watching a small bead of sweat drip down his midriff. “It’s not like you weren’t kissing me back just now.”

Luci swallowed hard.

“Do you need a slideshow presentation? Should I have brought notecards?” Talmage demanded sarcastically.

Luci continued to gape at him, his lips wet and red. “I-I…” He covered his red face with his hands and groaned. 

Talmage tapped his foot impatiently. _ God, this is exactly what I was trying to avoid _ . He wasn’t exactly used to doing _ everything _. It was usually Talmage who got pinned down for sassing his partner; the right kind of person put him in his place if he opened his mouth too much, but talking back was one of his best skills and usually elicited the kind of reaction he wanted.

As they both caught their breath, Talmage slowly slid his hands down Luci’s open back shirt. Luci shivered at the touch. He continued until his indigo-tipped fingers settled on Luci’s bare sides, and he let his fingers rub circles into the lines of his hips. Almost involuntarily, Luci bent his head forward at the touch, his lips brushing against Talmage’s hair and left ear. 

“You can touch me you know,” said Talmage, noting Luci’s shaking hands barely grazing his pink hips. “It’s not illegal for you touch a tiefling. I’m not _ actually _a demon.”

Luci scowled but nodded nervously, letting his palms press gently into Talmage’s skin. He stood there unmoving.

“What, _ that’s it _?”

Luci’s hands gripped him tighter, annoyed. Without warning, he bent down and kissed Talmage hard, this time opening his lips receptively and pulling Talmage’s hips closer to his. A soft “ha” escaped Talmage’s lips as Luci drew breath between them. 

Talmage smirked against Luci’s mouth: egging Luci on was going to be a lot easier than he thought.

“Mmm, that’s a _ bit _better, I suppose,” Talmage commented between kisses. 

“_ Shuddup _,” Luci said, his voice muffled against Talmage’s mouth. 

“Hey, I’m just sayin’, you’re a real natural,” Talmage goaded. “Or have you been practicing with Mr. Graves behind our backs?”

Suddenly, his shoulder erupted with a small pain; Luci had punched him, hard. Talmage just grinned at him, and then leaned into Luci’s neck. Running his teeth along skin, Talmage gently kissed and sucked at the boy’s neck. Luci yelped. _ He probably bruises like a peach _ , Talmage thought dully. _ Well, at least that could be fun _. 

Luci made another vague noise.

“Was that a _ whimper _?” Talmage said incredulously, and he couldn’t help the bit of laughter that escaped.

Face hidden in the crook of Talmage’s shoulder, Luci just pressed against him harder, a little more desperate. Talmage’s tail swished with delight, and he let Luci continue to move against him, admirable as his efforts were. 

After a few minutes of this, Talmage pulled back from Luci a little and jerked his head in the direction of the inn.

“Well? You want to just stay out here all night, where _ everyone _can see how ‘not gay’ you are, or—?” 

Luci shook his head, swaying a little from the alcohol and from the dizziness of the spontaneous makeout. Rolling his eyes and scoffing, Talmage released his hold on Luci and started to head back toward the inn. Luci slouched after him, and when he caught up, Talmage begrudgingly slid a friendly arm around Luci’s side as they walked.

When they arrived back at the inn, the bar was much quieter and vacant given that it was well into the early hours of the next day. Talmage walked up to the owner, slid a few gold pieces across the table, and then made his way up the stairs with Luci.

Closing the door to the room behind them, he watched Luci wander over to the bed, where he slumped down onto it in a sitting position. For lack of knowing what he should do next, Talmage sat down next to him.

It was a painful silence. Based on the makeout in the alley, Talmage had come to the quick conclusion that Luci was _ not _ a dominant personality; it seemed like each of them was waiting for the other to make a [ move ](https://me.me/i/and-so-they-were-a-both-bottoms-14091225) . _ How much of a sub is this boy _ , Talmage thought incredulously. Then he remembered one of their more recent escapades as a party, when they were crawling through the underground sewers of Highkeep. Luci had decided to go for a swim in the filthy water to look for treasure. Talmage recalled the moment when Luci had yanked him by the ankle into the water, and flushed slightly at the memory. _ That _was the sort of antagonistic, yet playful energy which had drawn him to Luci in the first place. There was really only one way to get Luci to do what he wanted, Talmage surmised, and that was to drag it out of him.

“So, why do you wear this crop top anyway,” Talmage asked, playing with the elastic of the fabric with his finger. 

“It’s...part of my uniform for the circus, you know that,” Luci mumbled.

Talmage shrugged. “It’s cute. I like it.”

This only made Luci bury his face in his hands. “Stop...” he moaned.

“What? _ Stop _ complimenting you?” Talmage laughed. “Fine, it _ really _highlights your twinky hips—”

Luci hit him on the shoulder again.

“Stop calling me a twink!”

“You can’t escape who you arrrreee, Lucile!” Talmage wailed playfully, and pushed him back.

“Aaaaagh!” Luci yelled and grabbed Talmage by the front of his sheer shirt before pushing him down onto the bed beneath him.

And suddenly Luci was on top of him. His stomach doing a pleasant flip, Talmage put his arms leisurely behind his head, smirking up at Luci, expectantly. However, Luci seemed to have lost track of what he was going to do, so he paused there for a moment, sitting right on top of Talmage’s hips. Sighing impatiently, Talmage began to try and flip Luci over, which startled him and caused him to lose his balance. Falling forward, he caught himself on Talmage’s shoulders. Their eyes locked.

“This is your _ destiny _ , Luci! You _ like _boys!” Talmage yelled, now completely pinned beneath the boy and laughing mischievously. Instinctively, Luci put a hand over Talmage’s mouth.

“Shut up!”

Talmage bit him immediately.

“OW! What the hell??” Luci grabbed his hand and massaged it with his thumb.

“What are you gonna do about it, _ straight boy _?” 

Luci looked away, his face perpetually flushing a dark scarlet.

Talmage heaved another sigh, becoming more and more exasperated with Luci’s tentative behavior. He reached down into his pants and pulled out the small jar of ink that he had used earlier. Hastily, he dipped his finger in the ink and then scribbled a message across Luci’s bare stomach just below his belly button, which startled Luci who hadn’t noticed Talmage pull out his brush. For lack of a more creative phrase, he sloppily wrote “_ you can do it :) _” from one side of his hip to the other like some horribly stupid inspirational tattoo. 

“What’re you—” 

Just then, the mostly illegible writing on Luci’s stomach moved on its own, animated like ink dropped in water, swirling a deep blacker-than-black color that seemed to penetrate Luci’s skin. Really, his magic was quite beautiful on other people, Talmage thought, the dark ink contrasting with Luci’s pale, toned abdomen. He should really try this out more often.

“You looked like you needed a little, I dunno, _guidance_,” Talmage shrugged, capping the ink and putting his equipment carefully on the bedside table next to him. “Don’t worry, it’s not going to turn you into a top or anything, I doubt even magic would be able to help _you_ with that.”

Luci snorted. “Sounds like you’ve tried.”

Talmage frowned and wiped the remainder of the ink on Luci’s face. Luci grunted, but Talmage proceeded to dig his nails into Luci’s thighs, eliciting another yelp from his partner. Sensing a weak point, Talmage wrestled his way between Luci’s legs and wrapped a leg and his long pink tail around the boy’s back. With a certain ease of someone who had done a fair bit of this in the past, and with a little advantage from his tail, Talmage successfully one-upped Luci’s position, flipping him onto his back. He grabbed Luci’s flailing wrists and pinned them above his head, leaning his head down towards Luci’s ear.

“That’s not fair!” Luci protested, squirming against Talmage’s grip.

“_ You like boys _ ,” Talmage whispered, running his tongue lightly along the side of Luci’s ear. “ _ You want to kiss boys, you think about kissing boys and fucking boys and— _”

Letting out a sudden loud yell, Luci wrestled his arms out of Talmage’s hold on him. But there was no way Talmage was going easy on Luci, who was definitely stronger and more flexible than Talmage was, given his athletic build and circus training. His arms now free, Luci grabbed Talmage by the shoulders, looking as though he might shove him off the bed at any moment.

“You should really give up the whole straight boy act, you know,” Talmage said nonchalantly, seemingly unbothered by Luci’s strong grip on his shoulders, though it was definitely sending jolts of pleasure down his entire body, towards his groin. Whatever Luci could do with his strength, Talmage knew he could weaken with his words. “Nobody is buying it.”

Luci scowled at him. “It’s _ not _an act!”

“That’s not what that little bump in your pants is telling me right now,” Talmage said, shifting his weight so that his ass sat directly on top of Luci’s crotch. Having no free hands to stifle another noise, Luci moaned out loud.

“Relax Luci, it’s not like I haven’t seen your [dick](https://archiveofourown.org/works/20179804),” Talmage suggested casually, grinding his hips _ just _a touch more into Luci.

“Nng—it’s not like I haven’t seen yours! I was _ right there _!”

He was right. Talmage suddenly remembered the traumatic incident at the circus, where his clothes had caught fire and burned almost entirely away as he stumbled over hot coals, ass and everything out for the whole audience to see—Luci included. Dissociating temporarily, Talmage wondered at this point who _ hadn’t _seen his dick.

“What _ are _you trying to prove to me exactly by telling me you’ve seen my dick?” asked Talmage accusingly. “That you don’t like boys?”

“Will everyone PLEASE stop insuating that I’m gay for like, one minute?!”

“Hey, relax, I’m not about ‘labels,’ bud,” Talmage said, putting up his hands calmly. “Be whatever you wanna be.” He said this, but then immediately put his hands on Luci’s stomach and ground his hips into his groin again, causing Luci to release his grip on Talmage’s shoulders in favor of covering his face in shame. It was hard for him to tell—did Luci enjoyed being embarrassed, or was he really was just _ bad _ at this?

Luci groaned loudly into his hands. “God, you’re such an _ asshole _, Talmage.” 

“I know,” Talmage said smugly, and slapped Luci’s hands away from his face.

“Hey! Fuckin’ _ quit it _!” Luci exclaimed, slapping his arms back. 

“_ Make me _,” Talmage cooed, sliding a hand just slightly underneath Luci’s crop top, the other resting on top. He played with the fabric, pulling it tighter against Luci’s chest until the outline of his nipples were straining against the shirt. Luci moaned more urgently, and Talmage’s mouth watered. The fabric created friction against his chest, stimulating him in a way Talmage was sure Luci had never realized he’d enjoy. Based on the frantic hip thrusting and sloppy kisses, it occured to Talmage that most likely Luci rarely slowed down enough to let anyone play with his chest like this.

When he’d finally had enough, Luci growled again, sat up, and wrapped his arms around Talmage’s neck roughly. Slightly sensitive to this given the proximity to his Vale brand, Talmage faltered slightly. Luci dove for the side of his neck with his lips, sucking and biting angrily with a renewed energy. Talmage bit back a yelp and immediately retaliated by pulling Luci’s hair. Predictably, Luci howled.

“Ahh! What are you—” 

“Fight back, twink,” Talmage hissed.

“I’m not a _ fucking _twink!”

Using his leverage on Luci’s hair, he pulled his head back and kissed him again. Luci moaned into his mouth, his arms now pulling Talmage down closer to his body. Running his hands back under Luci’s shirt, Talmage began to pull up the fabric. Seeming a bit more eager, Luci yanked his shirt over his head in one swift movement. It appeared the cantrip Talmage had cast was helping Luci finally get it together and gather a little courage. 

With his mouth still pressed hotly against Luci’s, Talmage rubbed his thumbs over Luci’s chest, pausing to tenderly massage the pink circles now overstimulated by his touch. Whining into his mouth, Luci moved his hands down to Talmage’s ass and began to desperately push him into his crotch, rocking his hips like a horny teenage boy. God, he wasn’t expecting that to feel _ so good _ . But Talmage loved it when he could get partners to play rough with him, to drop their defenses and fight back. It wasn’t any fun if there wasn’t a _ little _retaliation.

In response to Luci bucking his hips wildly into him, Talmage pinched him painfully on one of his nipples, leaving a red swollen mark.

Startled, Luci cried out and gripped Talmage with his nails reflexively. 

“Talmage—!” Luci managed to choke out.

“Yeah?” Talmage replied, rubbing and pinching Luci’s chest with his fingers as casually as one might do if they were kneading a ball of clay. 

“That hurt!” Luci shouted, small tears welling up in his eyes.

“Yes, that’s the point,” said Talmage, still rubbing the boy between his fingers. “You’re so _ sensitive _. Don’t tell me this is all it takes to make you cry.”

“Fuck you, I’m _ not crying _,” Luci sniffed, wincing and wiping his face quickly. 

“Don’t be a little bitch, Luci.” 

Once he recovered from the initial pain and delirious headrush, Luci opened his eyes and attempted to flip Talmage over with all his might; because of his size, this wasn’t particularly difficult, and Luci managed to scramble on top of Talmage again. _ At least being an asshole was working _, Talmage thought, his stomach fluttering pleasantly again. He could feel the warmth between his own legs building every time he provoked a reaction from Luci.

“I’m impressed,” Talmage said, a little dazed, “that was pretty hot.”

As Luci huffed in reply, Talmage slid himself out of his sheer shirt and black crop top, and then looked up at Luci’s silhouetted figure in the dark of the room, the hairs on his arms rising quickly with goosebumps.

Noticing the obvious tightness in his pants, Talmage pointed at him. “You planning to do something about that?” Luci heaved a sigh, but then pulled off his pants so that he was only sitting in his underwear. Arms crossed over his sensitive chest, he turned away from Talmage. 

“You gonna—can I, uh, help you with yours?” Luci asked, not looking at him and sounding as though the words were causing him physical pain.

“Are you asking to _ get into my pants _?” 

Luci smacked him on the chest and then yanked at his waistband. Offering no resistance this time, Talmage lifted his hips up so Luci could easily slip them off. Perhaps a bit too earnestly, Luci kissed him again and began grinding his hips into Talmage again with a renewed fervor. Talmage positioned his hips so that Luci’s cock rubbed directly against his through the fabric of their clothes. As Luci’s cock pressed against his, Talmage bit his lower lip and felt himself grow harder.

“_ Fuck _,” Luci gasped into Talmage’s neck, his breath hot and quick. 

Increasing his pace, Luci dug his hands into Talmage’s hair as they made out. With his fingertips, Talmage painted lines and swirling circles down the back of Luci’s thighs, slipping in and out between his inner thighs, which only caused Luci to gasp louder into his mouth and grind faster against him. He caught himself beginning to moan and pant just as much as Luci, and bit down onto Luci’s lower lip. Admittedly, during their journeys together, every time Luci stuck out his lower lip, pouting about one thing or another, he would think privately about how badly he wanted to play with it between his teeth. Now that he was finally getting the chance, it felt _ fantastic _.

Coming up for air, Talmage noticed the wetness that was beginning to seep through the bulge in Luci’s underwear. “You gonna come in those, or do you need help?” he teased, fingers drifting down to the elastic of his own underwear as he slipped them off.

“You’ve not been much help,” Luci grunted at him and awkwardly flipped over onto his back next to Talmage in order to free himself from the last of his clothes.

Rolling onto his side, Talmage traced his fingers up along Luci’s thigh until he reached his now fully exposed cock. He palmed it slowly, taking pleasure in watching Luci’s eyes flicker at his touch. He leaned his head down to run his tongue along the side of him, massaging his thumb in a circle at the top. Restless, Luci grabbed himself from Talmage’s grasp, stroking and working himself up. Talmage waited, head resting on Luci’s thigh, lips inches from his cock, expecting Luci to grab his face or turn him over at any moment. 

But Luci failed to notice his cue. 

“Jesus—just put your dick in my mouth already, for _ fuck’s sake _ , you idiot,” Talmage hissed, sitting up over him. “You know what, never mind—it’s _ fine _—I’ll do it.”

In one swift motion, Talmage slapped Luci’s hand out of the way and took him in his mouth. It felt better than Talmage was expecting, having someone like Luci who was so reactive and sensitive to the touch. His mouth felt _ full _ and warm. At the same time, Talmage palmed himself, sliding into the mattress beneath them. 

“God, Talmage, _ f-fuck _,” Luci gasped.

“Mhmm,” Talmage responded, sliding his lips further down on Luci.

“You feel. _ So good _,” Luci moaned, his breath quickening with each stroke.

There was something about Luci’s desperation, the tiny noises and gasps that escaped from him occasionally, that fueled Talmage on further. Talmage worked the hand around his dick in a circular motion, feeling the warmth of Luci’s cock on the insides of his cheeks. Aside from a few overly eager hip thrusts from Luci, which caused Talmage to momentarily choke and swear under his breath, keeping Luci on the edge of losing his little straight boy mind was rather fun.

He opened his eyes to catch a quick glimpse of Luci’s face; his mouth was hanging open, his lips red and wet from biting and licking at them. 

That’s when he noticed Luci’s fingertips. They were glowing faintly with his trademark radiant magic. Talmage started. Pulling Luci’s cock out of his mouth, his eyes widened in shock. 

Luci’s _ dick _ was glowing.

Feeling slightly more nervous about what might happen next, Talmage wasn’t sure if he should stop or speed up his pace, but he opted for the latter and sucked down deeper. _ Better to finish this quickly _ . He was going to have a _ long _word with Luci in the morning about his powers—how he needed to practice his magic, or his emotions might cause him to accidentally blow up a building when someone gave him a blowjob.

Though he couldn’t complain: sucking a magical dick was very exciting. The electric warmth of it in his mouth tickled his tongue in a pleasant way Talmage had never felt before, and his throat hummed with magic that lit up his insides. Every time Luci’s fingers brushed his face or his skin, the radiant magic jolted him, sending warmth down to his groin and shutters from his spine to his tail. Why Luci’s magic was turning him on so much, he couldn’t fathom, but he certainly wasn’t stopping. Each moment of contact lit up Talmage’s brain, tiny constellations dancing in front of his eyes.

It didn’t take very much longer. Luci came with a loud cry into his mouth, his body jerking suddenly, fingers digging into Talmage’s messy white hair. Talmage scarcely needed to try anything special the entire time. He’d guessed from the start that Luci’s stamina likely wouldn’t last long, especially not with his general lack of experience. Still, there was something _ sweet _about Luci’s eagerness. He pushed aside that sentimental thought as he finished himself off, gasping softly against Luci’s abdomen, his sweat on his face mixing with the sloppy writing of his ink.

Wiping his mouth, Talmage was relieved to see the glowing on Luci’s hands and groin had subsided and eventually faded completely from sight. They both lay there panting and sweating, not saying anything, but they’d talked enough tonight, Talmage figured. He pulled his underwear back on, flicking Luci’s at his face.

This probably wouldn’t work again in the future, Talmage thought—he was already a little out of his comfort zone having assumed a more dominant role than he usually would, and Luci was likely destined for a life as a painfully hopeless bottom. _ Too much work _ , he thought. Sure, he was always up for some aggressive, rough-and-tumble play, but he was far too lazy for _ this _ kind of relationship. Though, it had still been good fun, teasing and working Luci up constantly. He was certain that aspect of their relationship would surely never change.

Collapsing next to Luci, Talmage let his heavy eyes fall closed.

=====


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> luci has a mental breakdown

When the morning sun rose, Talmage awoke to Luci stirring against him. As Luci opened his eyes blearily in the light and saw Talmage’s head lying on his bare chest, he instinctively jumped.

“_Shit _,” Luci scrambled out of the bed, but the sheets tangled around his legs and he fell, bear crawling out of the bed, his ass stuck up in the air.

Talmage burst out laughing. “You look like a dog trying to walk on a tile floor in socks!” 

He sighed contentedly, watching Luci struggle to untangle himself from the sheets unsuccessfully and doing nothing whatsoever to help. Why would he spoil a nice view and free entertainment?

Luci grunted at him angrily and eventually freed himself, running in just his underwear out the door and into the communal bathroom across the hall. As the door slammed loudly, Talmage shrugged and gathered his things in the room before returning to the room where Rocco, Raja, and Bishop were just beginning to wake up.

Downstairs at breakfast later that morning, Rocco was pouring everyone a cup of coffee at the table. Talmage settled himself down and then grabbed a forkful of pancakes from a large stack in front of him. 

“Where’d you and Luci go last night?” Rocco asked, shoving a much too large piece of pancake into his mouth.

“We were at the bar the whole time,” Talmage replied. “He wanted to play darts. I think we left a little while after you and Bishop did.”

“Sounds fun!” Rocco said smiling at him. “I want to play darts next time. Also, we should go back for karaoke night again. Everyone should take a turn singing!”

“Looked like you guys had a fun time, too.” Talmage looked up at Bishop who was reading the morning’s newspaper.

“People really liked my lorts,” said Bishop proudly. “I received many compliments _ and _drinks.”

“He did!” Rocco agreed. “I want to buy some lorts. Bishop, will you help me?”

Bishop frowned at him. “I’m not sure that’s a good idea.” Rocco pouted at him.

As she cut into the eggs on her plate, Raja glanced around the tavern. “Where’s Luci?”

“Luci made out with a dude, had a one-night stand, and now he’s hiding in the bathroom having a mental breakdown,” Talmage said casually, taking a piece of toast from the plate in front of him. “He’s probably fine,” he added through a mouthful of toast.

Raja raised an eyebrow at the pink tiefling. “I didn’t realize Luci, well, _ swung _ that way.” 

Talmage waved the hand holding his toast around leisurely. “I thought it was rather obvious. He’s a _ sword-swallower _, I mean, come on. He might as well tattoo ‘dick-sucker’ on his forehead.”

Raja questioned his response but decided it was best not to discuss anything further right then. Bishop frowned at Talmage. Rocco, who was plowing his way through a second plate of pancakes, seemed not to have heard him or didn’t understand.

It was at this time that Luci sauntered down the steps to the table, looking rather put out and frazzled, to say the least. His neck was covered in noticeable marks and bruises, and his lips looked more red and swollen than normal. 

“Morning, Luci!” Rocco said cheerfully, and passed him a plate of pancakes.

Luci didn’t respond, but accepted the black cup of coffee Raja was pouring him and took a large sip. Head bowed over his plate, Talmage let his eyes glance up at Luci. Instantly noticing his gaze, Luci sent daggers back at him.

“_ What _are you looking at, Talmage,” Luci demanded hotly.

“Nothing,” he said sheepishly, stirring a bit of egg around his fork. “Just wondering if you’re gonna share your fun night with the table.”

If looks could kill, Luci would have committed a murder at breakfast. Or he would have cried. Instead, he huffed and took another long sip from his coffee.

“We should go back there again sometime!” Rocco suggested, oblivious as usual. “Since everyone had such a good time!”

Luci slumped against the wall behind the bench, the mug in his hand landing on the table. Talmage just gloated at him, happily shoving another piece of toast into his mouth.


End file.
